Four Souls
by Azurite
Summary: AU: Kagome's soul is no longer hers... yet she continues to live the normal life she has always wanted since meeting Inuyasha. The price? How will Inuyasha react? (Ch 4, 5 up!)
1. The First Soul: Kagome

Four Souls

The First Soul: Kagome  
An Inuyasha Fanfiction

By Azurite  
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com   
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon   
PG  
  
**_REVISED 12.16.2001_ **– Reformatted in HTML so that you can see italics, bold, etc. The spacing between lines should be okay too. Up to this point, I've read the origins of the Shikon no Tama chapter, so I might end up fitting the story in here somehow… I don't know… ^^;; 

**_REVISED 11.15.2001_** - I fixed the spelling of "Urasue" and reformatted the fic nicely. Wai-wai! As for the Sango-origins-of-the-Shikon-no-Tama. okay, I guess this is an AU fic. I've only read up to manga 8, and plan to buy all the Japanese ones and read-along-with-my-book on the Net. So far, there's 22 manga, so I need to save up some $$ !  
  


**_Disclaimer_**  
Right, IY and Kagome, and Kikyou and all them belong to the richest woman in all of Japan-Rumiko Takahashi I-wish-she-were-my-mom-sama. ^^;; I'm just borrowing them for my own malicious purposes. ^^ This involves a bit of romance, some action, some gore, and some angst. You know. ME.  
  
Total length: 4 pages  
  


**_Legend_**  
"Spoken"  
* Thought *  
_Remembered_  
=Whispered=  
**Emphasis**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The truth behind the Shikon no Tama -the Jewel of the Four Souls- is shrouded in mystery. Even the revered priestess of ages past does not know its true secret, its power. No one alive still does. For when they find out, their very soul is stolen from them.  
  
  
Kagome needed only to look into his eyes. Amber colored, rare and mysterious, but with the same kind of fog, the same desperate isolation that Kagome saw only before in her own previous incarnation. It wasn't enough to have the legends shoved in her face; brutal words and reminders of a past she didn't remember; of a soul that wasn't rightfully hers.  
  
* Are you happy now, Kikyou? You live because of hatred for your beloved, but he is as good as dead himself! And I am. I don't know what I am anymore. * Kagome heaved a sigh and adjusted her overweight pack on her back.  
  
There was no escape to this life of searching for the Shikon no Tama shards. After all, it had been her fault the damned thing was splintered in the first place. But who had created the foolish thing-given it life, and power? Who had told the world about it, such so that hundreds upon thousands of mercenary warriors, rounin, bloodthirsty demons, and even the pure-hearted would seek it? Why?  
  
* I suppose I understand Kikyou now, in a way. * Kagome blinked at her own thoughts, and shook her head; unaware of the glances she was getting from the odd monk Miroku, and the half-demon Inuyasha. * But I'm not her. I never was her... right? *  
  
Doubting oneself was the most horrible pain one could feel. Kagome pinched her eyes shut as her subconscious brought back uncomfortable memories of a time not too long ago.  
  
_There was no lie in my kiss, Inuyasha._  
  
Kikyou. A foolish demon witch had brought the undead priestess, without a soul, back to life. Thinking the priestess would lead her to the Shikon no Tama; she ordered the shell of Kikyou to do her bidding. But without a soul, that was all Kikyou was- a doll. Until, that is, the witch, Urasue figured out just who Kikyou's soul had been reborn into.  
  
Kagome Higurashi: an unwilling participant in a magical battle of strength, ingenuity, and power-- and in some extreme cases, luck. In a Feudal Japan of demons, magical jewels, and lost souls, Kagome was, what she considered an ordinary Japanese school girl, forced to help out a demon and what were most likely her ancestors because of a total accident. It was like something out of a manga.  
  
* I know he really loved-- **loves** her. Every time she appears, even if she threatens to kill him, drag him to hell. He would go willingly, because he trusts her. Me.* A tear escaped Kagome's brown eyes, * I'm just a wench. *  
  
Kagome suddenly stopped walking with the rest of the group, her thoughts having taken a disturbing turn. After about three yards, the group looked backwards at her.  
  
"Kagome? What's wrong?" Shippou asked, jumping off Miroku's shoulder to look up at her with his large and young eyes. Kagome stared down at the kit blankly. He was young and innocent, but a demon nonetheless. He had seen war, and felt pain. But he concealed it well. For Kagome, it was different. She had no underlying strength or blood heritage to fall back on. The word ordinary was meaningless in a world such as this.  
  
* If only Urasue had succeeded in transferring my -no, Kikyou's- soul back to her. *  
  
It was a profound thought, one almost striking enough to be called an epiphany. She blinked back a tear she hadn't know was in her eye and stared down at Shippou, the little kit's tail swishing in wonderment at Kagome's sudden lack of emotion. She managed a weak and false smile.  
  
"I'm fine. Nothing's wrong. Come on," Kagome plastered on an entirely fake smile on her face and skipped ahead, doing her best to avoid the piercing amber gaze of Inuyasha. Once, Kagome would have thought of those eyes as warm-- amber was a warm, if not rare color, to be cherished. But it was a demonic color now, one that could have coldness and depthlessness to it. One that held no warmth for her.  
  
*******************************************************************************

  
Later that night, when the foursome of shard-hunters slept, Kagome tossed. The fire crackling, the soft inhalations and whispers of Miroku and Shippou… the entirely false sleep of Inuyasha. Kagome sat up suddenly, and felt that same cold, piercing gaze as from before. If she didn't speak, perhaps he wouldn't either. Drawing herself from her sleeping bag, and without chancing a second glance towards Inuyasha, Kagome ran into the woods.  
  
She barely heard the echo of Inuyasha's cry at her dash into woods. But she couldn't go back. The briars of the bushes tore at her, and the cold feeling that she got when in this word-the alert of a demon presence, and an unkind one at that-swept through her. But Kagome kept running. She had to keep running if only to avoid her own fears.  
  
* I don't know if I should even be sorry, Inuyasha. Not for you. You love **her**, not me… and it's my fault for believing anything otherwise. *  
  
Almost fifteen minutes later, Kagome flung herself down on the cool, soft ground of a clearing. It had a mystical sort of energy about it, the kind that demons avoided. It was perfect. Heaving for breath and red-faced, Kagome lay without movement on the soil. Inuyasha was fast, and would pick up her scent up soon enough.

"Kikyou." Kagome stood up on shaky legs and stared into the inky blackness surrounding her. She was here. She had to be. Then, in a glimmer of light, the former priestess stood before her, that cold stare, blank and soulless stabbing Kagome.  
  
"After all I have done –or attempted to do— to you, you still summon me." Kikyou stated with some amusement. Kagome clicked her tongue a little bit and turned her head to the side, back to the direction where she'd come.  
  
"Why not? I have what you want."  
  
"Che. You have nothing I want." Kikyou glared at her reincarnation with distaste. While doing so, her eyes shifted a bit up and down. Her reincarnation had been running from something --or someone. She was barely clothed, so that could only mean one thing.  
  
"You are his lover, then?" Kikyou's words, had they been liquid, would have been a searing, burning acid. Kagome blinked, in a state of shock, and then shook her head with a whispered chuckle.  
  
"Anything but." She responded, avoiding the images her mind sent to her --of Inuyasha.  
  
"What then?" Kikyou asked, daring to move a step closer. Her counterpart was unarmed, but had obviously built of some experience in this time and place. She knew this place was a magical center of convergence, where no demon could enter. Not even a half-demon such as Inuyasha. At least, not while a soul and a shell were at the same time.  
  
Kagome placed a hand on her own breast, thumping her heart lightly. She stared deeply into Kikyou's eyes, meeting them with a sense of confidence. The fear had left her. This was her decision, her choice. It had to be done, for the good of this time, for her friends. If they really were that.  
  
"Our soul."  
  


*******************************************************************************

  
Kwhaha. There shall be another part, of course. What will happen to Kagome and Kikyou? When will Inuyasha show up, and if he does, will he be able to do anything, trapped outside the Circle of Mystical Convergence?  
  
**Stay tuned for Part 2: Soul Switch  
**  
  



	2. Soul Switch

Four Souls  
Part 2: Soul Switch  
An Inuyasha Fanfiction  
By Azurite  
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com   
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon   
PG  
  


**_Legend_**  
_Remembered  
_"Spoken"  
* Thought *  
**Emphasis  
** Sound effect 

**_RECAP OF PAST EVENTS:_**  
"What then?" Kikyou asked, daring to move a step closer. Her counterpart was unarmed, but had obviously built of some experience in this time and place. She knew this place was a magical center of convergence, where no demon could enter. Not even a half-demon such as Inuyasha. At least, not while a soul and a shell were at the same time.  
  
Kagome placed a hand on her own breast, thumping her heart lightly. She stared deeply into Kikyou's eyes, meeting them with a sense of confidence. The fear had left her. This was her decision, her choice. It had to be done, for the good of this time, for her friends. If they really were that.  
  
"Our soul."  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
"Damn her, damn her… that… that wench!" Inuyasha, as was usual for him, let his anger take control as he rushed through the forest. He thought he saw some sort of a clearing, a breach in the trees, but as soon as he reached it.  
  
BAMM!   
  
Inuyasha fell backwards, his feet sliding against rough ground. He'd been… **repelled**… somehow. Inuyasha reached out a clawed hand to the space where the trees ended, and a shimmer of moonlight twinkled down. Then, as if by some mysterious force, a barrier appeared-- a shimmering, reflective barrier of liquid glass.  
  
Once he removed his claw, the barrier vanished, and again, the area looked as though nothing were there but trees. Moving as close to the barrier as he could manage - into a tree that the barrier supposedly touched - Inuyasha peered into the area he'd seen Kagome run.  
  
His eyes widened considerably when he saw an all-too familiar form slumped on the floor in the middle of the clearing. Not Kagome, but…  
  
"Kik… Kikyou…?" Inuyasha barely spoke her name when the figure in question stirred.  
  
"Un… I-Inuyasha? Is that you?" Kikyou sat up and stared about her in wonder. Her hands… her face… the once-undead priestess caressed her smooth and rose-colored cheek. She stood up on unsteady feet, trembling in place a moment. Her eyes -a deep blue- shined brightly, full of light, as she met Inuyasha's stunned and almost scared gaze. She walked towards the barrier and passed through it without a single thought and stood below the tree Inuyasha was in.  
  
The hanyou looked down on his former lover with some disdain-he could no longer smell Kagome. But Kikyou… why was… why was she looking at him like that? It stirred old, familiar-- and not-so-comfortable memories.  
  
"Inuyasha… what are you doing up there?" Kikyou smiled up at him. Inuyasha wasn't sure how to respond. She wore a semi-smile on her face.  
  
* A smile? But… I always thought she wanted to kill me… revenge. *  
  
Inuyasha edged down the tree slowly, staying a good meter away from the former priestess, eying her suspiciously. Kikyou managed a smirk as she edged closer to Inuyasha, and closer still until he was pressed against the invisible, rippling barrier.  
  
"Don't make me say it, Inuyasha."  
  
* Say what? That she wants to kill me? Kikyou, what's wrong with you? *  
  
Kikyou smiled faintly, a devilish, playful smile as her voice sounded in a near-whisper.  
  
"SIT!"  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Kagome Higurashi awoke with a headache. She groaned and flopped back to her pillow. Barely opening one eye, she chanced a look out her window.  
  
"W-What. it's already daytime?!" Kagome shot up in bed, and faster than a speeding bullet, rushed through her room, dressing and fixing her hair to get ready for school.  
  
"Why didn't you wake me uuuuuupppppp?!" Kagome screeched as she tore down the hall, past her mother, to the bathroom. Kagome's mother blinked in surprise, barely registering her daughter's presence this early in the day- on a Sunday. Shouldn't she be in the other world with her dog-eared friend?  
  
Kagome's mother walked calmly to the bathroom, not at all surprised to see her daughter brushing her teeth at a furious pace, then proceeding to brush her hair rapidly.  
  
"Ka-Kag-" Ms. Higurashi tried to get in, while her daughter zipped around the bathroom, "Kagome Higurashi!" Kagome finally screeched to a halt in front of her mother, smiling.  
  
"What is it mom?"  
  
"What in heaven's name are you doing here on a Sunday?" Kagome blinked in confusion.  
  
"Sunday? You mean I don't have to go to school? YAY!" Kagome looked as though she had won a million yen lottery, stars in her eyes.  
  
"Yesss. no math tests, no exams, no cramming!!" Kagome twirled around in a circle, not paying attention when a small residual puddle of water from the bath found its way under her foot, slipping her to the floor.  
  
"T-That's not what I meant, Kagome," Ms. Higurashi tried to explain, this time down to her daughter rubbing her sore bottom on the floor.  
  
"I-taiii.."  
  
When the older woman was finally able to get a word in edgewise, between Kagome's loud and pain-filled "Itai's," she bent down and asked plainly,  
  
"Why aren't you with your dog-eared friend?"  
  
Kagome looked up to face her mother and stared as if she'd grown a second head.  
  
"Who?"  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
End of Part 2: Soul Switch  
  
Coming up next in "Four Souls" -- Part 3- Second Soul: Kikyou  
  
Kaede couldn't believe her eye. Walking beside Inuyasha, as plain as day… was Kikyou. Her older sister… the once-dead, reborn-yet-soulless husk of a girl… just there. Villagers gasped, children stared. The priest and kitsune that accompanied Inuyasha on his travels were walking at a slower pace behind Inuyasha and Kikyou, looking more than a mite unhappy.  
  
When Kaede finally looked to the hanyou she had grown accustomed to talking to, as one would a grandchild, she noticed his melancholy expression -next to Kikyou's brightly shining smile. It was that smile that finally caused Kaede to realize what was so horribly wrong with this picture -Kikyou… was **alive**. 


	3. Second Soul: Kikyou

Four Souls  
Part 3: Second Soul - Kikyou  
An Inuyasha Fanfiction  
By Azurite  
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com   
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon   
PG  
  


**_Legend_**  
_Remembered  
_"Spoken"  
* Thought *  
**Emphasis  
** Sound effect 

**_RECAP OF PAST EVENTS:_**

"Why aren't you with your dog-eared friend?"  
Kagome looked up to face her mother and stared as if she'd grown a second head.

"Who?"

&&&

* Say what? That she wants to kill me? Kikyou, what's wrong with you? *

Kikyou smiled faintly, a devilish, playful smile as her voice sounded in a near-whisper.

"SIT!"  
  
  
***************************************************************************  
  


Inuyasha was at a loss as to what to do. It wasn't as if situations like this happened every day… but still… 

* She's alive… really alive… * 

Ever since that fateful day so long ago, when Inuyasha had found out from Kaede that the miko he had once loved was dead, he hadn't been the same. He treated Kagome horribly, just because she was the reincarnation of Kikyou. And then, when Kikyou had been brought back to life by the demon-witch Urasue, he had tried to save her again… despite growing feelings for Kagome. He'd slowly been learning that Kagome was very different from Kikyou… and then he had destroyed all hope of any relationship between the two of them. 

Kikyou hadn't wanted to be brought back to life… **had wanted** to rest in peace, regardless of the truth of her death. Now, she stayed on Earth with only her vengeance and lost souls keeping her alive. To be near Kagome for too long was to ask for doom, as whatever shred of the original miko's soul was left inside her doll-body would be transferred to Kagome… its current holder. 

* Kaede… after all this time, her older sister… is back. But now, Kaede's older, and **she's** the village priestess. What will everyone think? *

* What am **I** thinking… letting her come back… and… * 

Inuyasha's thoughts stopped. For only a moment had he wondered where Kagome had disappeared to. She was, indeed gone, and it seemed that Kikyou, alive as she was… knew the "magic word" for getting him to behave. 

Snapping out of the stupor that overcame him each time he was slammed into the ground, he struggled to get up and look at Kikyou. 

She kneeled down to look him in the eyes, a smile on her face.

"Come on, Inuyasha," She said, sounding all too cheery for someone who had been previously trying to kill him and/or drag him to hell, "We should get back to the camp before Miroku and Shippou get worried." 

She started walking in the general direction of the camp, and that's when Inuyasha started—she **knew** them!?

************************************************************************************************************

"…Your dog-eared friend, Kagome," Ms. Higurashi tried to explain, baffled by her daughter's odd behavior. Perhaps something had happened in the Sengoku Jidai, causing her to forget all about… what was his name… Inuyasha!

"…Inuyasha." 

"Eeh…? 'Dog-demon?' What are you talking about mama? And here I thought I was crazy for waking up too early on a Sunday. Maybe I should go back to sleep, and all this weirdness will be just a dream…" Stumbling lazily, the youngest female Higurashi went back to her bedroom and shut the door. 

"Na… oh my…" Ms. Higurashi ran downstairs to where Souta was eating, and where her father was cleaning up. Maybe they could have some insight on this situation. 

************************************************************************************************************

Kaede couldn't believe her eye. Walking beside Inuyasha, as plain as day… was Kikyou. Her older sister… the once-dead, reborn-yet-soulless husk of a girl… just there. Villagers gasped; children stared. The priest and kitsune that accompanied Inuyasha on his travels were walking at a slower pace behind Inuyasha and Kikyou, looking more than a mite unhappy.  
  
When Kaede finally looked to the hanyou she had grown accustomed to talking to, as one would a grandchild, she noticed his melancholy expression -next to Kikyou's brightly shining smile. It was that smile that finally caused Kaede to realize what was so horribly wrong with this picture -Kikyou… was **alive**. 

"Ma-Masaka…" The word seemed to be chorused by the villagers, old men, women, and children alike. Kikyou was somewhat of a legend, even if she had… **died** fifty years ago. The people would not so readily have accepted Inuyasha as their "protector" if their former guardian hadn't been in love with him so long ago. 

Now the two were reunited again, neither looking as though they'd aged a day… and Kikyou… was alive. 

Kaede walked forward and dared to meet her once-older sister. 

"Kaede-chan!" Kikyou walked up to her once-younger sister and embraced her, startling the older woman. Keeping her miko powers at the ready, she didn't return the hug. 

"Ne… Kaede-chan, what's wrong? Did something happen while we were gone?" 

The question posed was so innocent, so completely sincere, that Kaede didn't know what to make of it. Could it truly be, that after all this time… after all these trials, her older sister was returned to her? 

Te last time the village priestess had seen her sister was when she had come to the hut and demanded to know all about Naraku. She needed confirmation that it **hadn't** been Inuyasha who had destroyed the village so long ago… and betrayed her. Kaede knew that, even without a complete soul, Kikyou just wanted a shred of proof in the opposite direction—saying that Inuyasha **was** a vile betrayer. But when she found out that Inuyasha was innocent… and that his love for her had caused Naraku to want to destroy them so mercilessly… 

"What do you remember, Kikyou?" Kaede asked blatantly. No honorific, no "onee-chan." No, if this was truly her older sister, restored to life… then what had happened to the bearer of her soul… Kagome? 

************************************************************************************************************

            Night fell soon enough in the village. People spent the day hanging around Kaede's hut, trying to discern what the two mikos within were discussing. Inuyasha mostly stayed by himself, in the woods nearby, but dared to go back into village grounds once everything was dark and silent. Perhaps it was just in his nature to be alone… after all, any time that he had dared to **be** with someone, it had ended in…

            _Inuyasha!_

            Startled, the hanyou looked about. Kagome…? B-But… she couldn't be here. Kikyou was **alive** now, so that meant… 

            The implications of that thought nearly drove Inuyasha to his knees. So unsure was he of Kikyou being… **alive** again, that he hadn't time to think about what happened to Kagome—the girl, with her own mind, her own body, her own personality. Could she be…?

            His eyes alighted on the well not too far from the village's border. The Bone-Eater's well and the passage from this warring age to Kagome's… if there was even a chance…

  
            Using all the speed his half-youkai power offered him, Inuyasha ran to the well, and jumped in. He was unaware of a pair of dark eyes trained on his backside the entire time. The figure turned once Inuyasha was out of sight, the slight jingling of beads sounding in the still night. 

************************************************************************************************************

**End of Part 3 – Second Soul: Kikyou**

Anou… maybe that part wasn't so much focused on Kikyou as Kaede and Inuyasha… and I know I could make it longer. But where's the fun in that, when I could just do _tons_ of short parts? ^^ So, look forward to the next part soon—

**Part 4: Well…**

Kagome trembled slightly as she crept through the darkness. It was the new moon tonight, so there was no light to go by, save what dimness came from the flood lights down the block. 

_Damn cat! Stupid, stupid Buyo!_

But she had seen the oversized cat slip out the open porch door, and she had to get the cat back tonight… the last time Buyo had gotten out, he had killed an assortment of birds belonging to a neighbor, and left messes on every stair leading up to the Sunset Shrine. Grandfather had not been pleased.

Kagome and Souta had begged not to have Buyo put to sleep or given away, so both Ms. Higurashi and Grandfather made them promise to make sure Buyo never got outside the house again. They'd made well on their promise for so long; Kagome didn't want to see Buyo given away. She didn't know why, but sometimes that darn cat felt like her only friend…

            "B-Buyo… here kitty kitty…" Kagome snuck around the bushes near the legendary Bone-Eater's well. She thought she heard a rustle of something, and whipped in that direction. 

            _I should have brought a flashlight… _

            Kagome chattered as well—she was cold. All she wanted to do right now was find Buyo, and climb back into her soft, warm bed. Sure, she had school tomorrow morning, but sleep was the most wonderful thing in the world, and Kagome wouldn't miss it, if she had the choice. But at the moment, she didn't have a choice…

            She crept close to the bushes where she'd seen the rustle, and dared to call out, just a bit louder…

            "Buyo? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" 

            Kagome kept her eyes focused on the bush, and then jumped back with a silent gasp when two very **non-feline** eyes stared back at her. 

Stay tuned for more! 

**_Azurite_**


	4. Well...

Four Souls  
Part 4: Well…****

An Inuyasha Fanfiction  
By Azurite  
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com   
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon   
PG  
  


**_Legend_**  
_Remembered  
_"Spoken"  
* Thought *  
**Emphasis  
** Sound effect 

[ Letter ] 

**_Author's Notes:_**Gwah! This fic is coming out faster than any of the others I've ever written! But you are forewarned, I'm trying to work on my cliffhangers. I also have a tendency to post whatever pops into my head (the whole bubble bath analogy) so if I post something ridiculous, please don't flame me! ;_; Also, thank you to all the nice people who reviewed… even if they were confused at first. That's the point! ^^ Wait till you read this part now… maybe things will get a bit cleared up. Oh, and "sort of similar" to this is my other recently-posted fic "Stream of Time." If this bores you, read that! I'm not a completely bad writer… honest! Oh, and there may be a **touch** of OOCed-ness on Inuyasha's part in this chapter… forgive!

Oh, and about this chapter title, "Well…" hehe… it's kind of a pun. Read and see if you get it. 

**_RECAP OF PAST EVENTS:_**

            Startled, the hanyou looked about. Kagome…? B-But… she couldn't be here. Kikyou was **alive** now, so that meant… 

            The implications of that thought nearly drove Inuyasha to his knees. So unsure was he of Kikyou being… **alive** again, that he hadn't time to think about what happened to Kagome—the girl, with her own mind, her own body, her own personality. Could she be…?

            His eyes alighted on the well not too far from the village's border. The Bone-Eater's well and the passage from this warring age to Kagome's… if there was even a chance…

  
            Using all the speed his half-youkai power offered him, Inuyasha ran to the well, and jumped in. He was unaware of a pair of dark eyes trained on his backside the entire time. The figure turned once Inuyasha was out of sight, the slight jingling of beads sounding in the still night. 

  
  


            Startled, the hanyou looked about. Kagome…? B-But… she couldn't be here. Kikyou was **alive** now, so that meant… 

            The implications of that thought nearly drove Inuyasha to his knees. So unsure was he of Kikyou being… **alive** again, that he hadn't time to think about what happened to Kagome—the girl, with her own mind, her own body, her own personality. Could she be…?

            His eyes alighted on the well not too far from the village's border. The Bone-Eater's well and the passage from this warring age to Kagome's… if there was even a chance…

  
            Using all the speed his half-youkai power offered him, Inuyasha ran to the well, and jumped in. He was unaware of a pair of dark eyes trained on his backside the entire time. The figure turned once Inuyasha was out of sight, the slight jingling of beads sounding in the still night. 

**_Post-Script:_**Do you _really_ need to guess who the person with the beads is? ^^  
************************************************************************************************************  
  


**_K_**agome trembled slightly as she crept through the darkness. It was the new moon tonight, so there was no light to go by, save what dimness came from the flood-lights down the block. 

* Damn cat! Stupid, stupid Buyo! * 

But she had seen the oversized cat slip out the open porch door, and she had to get the cat back tonight… the last time Buyo had gotten out, he had killed an assortment of birds belonging to a neighbor, and left messes on every stair leading up to the Sunset Shrine. Grandfather had not been pleased.

Kagome and Souta had begged not to have Buyo put to sleep or given away, so both Ms. Higurashi and Grandfather made them promise to make sure Buyo never got outside the house again. They'd made well on their promise for so long; Kagome didn't want to see Buyo given away. She didn't know why, but sometimes that darn cat felt like her only friend…

            "B-Buyo… here kitty, kitty…" Kagome snuck around the bushes near the legendary Bone-Eater's well. She thought she heard a rustle of something, and whipped in that direction. 

            * I should have brought a flashlight… * 

            Kagome chattered as well—she was cold. All she wanted to do right now was find Buyo, and climb back into her soft, warm bed. Sure, she had school tomorrow morning, but sleep was the most wonderful thing in the world, and Kagome wouldn't miss it, if she had the choice. But at the moment, she didn't have a choice…

            She crept close to the bushes where she'd seen the rustle, and dared to call out, just a bit louder…

            "Buyo? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" 

            Kagome kept her eyes focused on the bush, and then jumped back with a silent gasp when two very **non-feline** eyes stared back at her. 

************************************************************************************************************

            * Damn! I didn't know it was the new moon tonight… *Inuyasha grumbled as he climbed out of the well. The powers he treasured so dearly—being able to extend his senses beyond the capabilities of any normal human—were gone with the ebbing of his youkai blood. 

            It seemed that, besides the several hundred years that separated the Feudal Age and Kagome's time, there was an hourly difference as well—making the day come faster in Inuyasha's time. He hadn't kept track of the weeks since his last transformation into a human, and now…

            The dog-demon heard a voice—

            "Buyo…? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" 

            * It's Kagome! * 

            Then Inuyasha was frightened—if Kagome really **didn't** remember him… maybe… 

            * Hide! Hide, hide, hide!! * 

            Inuyasha crouched down in the bushes, trying to keep his breathing level and soft. Without his ability to smell from a great distance, he had to depend on his handicapped vision to tell when Kagome was coming closer—or when she wasn't. 

            The dim lighting cast her slender shadow on the concrete before Inuyasha, and he held his breath. Oh… if she saw him…

            It was then that Kagome gasped aloud—softly, but nonetheless, she gasped. 

            * Kuso! She knows I'm here… * 

            Indeed, Kagome stared into Inuyasha's eyes, hidden by the bushes as they were, in surprise. 

  
************************************************************************************************************

            * Courage, Higurashi! Don't be afraid! * 

Inside, Kagome was knock-kneed and terrified. What if it was a… a thief, or a robber, or… any number of horrible people could be hiding in the bushes surrounding her family's shrine! Any kind, and with who-knows-what for weapons to coerce victims with… 

            Kagome gulped. She paused. If she just turned and walked away… then maybe… 

           * Then maybe he'll ignore you? Yeah, right. * Kagome sighed at her own mind's sarcasm. Besides… what if it **was** just Buyo, and she was just imagining things. 

            * Mom always said you had a vivid imagination. * Kagome mustered up all her courage, and turned back to the bush. The eyes weren't there anymore, but…

            Kagome bent down to see if Buyo was there, and froze when someone tapped her—on the head. 

            * Oh… crap…* 

            When Kagome looked up, her face turned a brilliant red—standing there before her was the most **handsome** man she'd ever seen!

            * Gaaah! What am I thinking? Oh geez… oh geez… * 

  
************************************************************************************************************

            * This better work… * Inuyasha grumbled to himself for the umpteenth time. Perhaps if Kagome **didn't** recognize him, then it was for the better that he was in his human form. Besides, what harm was it to just… check on her? Right…?

            "Uhm… are you Kagome?" Inuyasha asked bluntly. 

            * Pray she doesn't think you're insane for wearing a kimono and wandering around in the middle of the night. * 

            "… how did you know my name?" Kagome asked, taking an unsure step backwards. He sure looked okay, for a guy in a kimono… and he was awfully handsome…

            * That doesn't mean he isn't some convicted criminal!! It's always the nice ones who hurt you the most! *

            "Well… uh, your… your reputation precedes you! You're quite popular where I come from." Inuyasha attempted a false grin. Kagome eyed him critically, still keeping her distance. It was then that her eyes alighted on the Tessaiga. 

            * A sword? What is he, some kind of martial artist? * 

            Inuyasha knew what she was looking at, and unsheathed the ancient sword, handling it just so Kagome could hold it. 

            "Eh…?" She stared at the rusted blade simply **plopped** into her hands, and then back up at Inuyasha. Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame her… as if this were all… **familiar** somehow. The blade in her hands wasn't just some rusted old blade from some ancient dojo… 

            ZZN … ZZN … ZZN 

            * What… is this thing? It… feels as though it's… it has a pulse!? * 

            Kagome handed the blade quickly back to Inuyasha, and before she could ask him about that odd vibe she'd just gotten from the sword, he smiled at her. 

            "Listen… would it be okay if I stayed the night? I uh… I'm not really familiar with this area, and I heard that the Sunset Shrine was…" 

            "Where did you **hear** all this from?" Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes, hands on her hips. Then she answered her own question with an exasperated sigh—"Probably my idiotic friends from school. It's a wonder they even hang around me anymore, with all the silly things Hojo keeps embarrassing me with, or those excuses Grandpa made when I…" 

            Inuyasha stared at her, wondering what she was going to say. He knew very well that Kagome's foolish grandfather had to make excuses for her absences from that… 'school' place. Kagome often complained about them, saying how it was impossible, and only made her life in her own world more difficult. 

            Moments like those made Inuyasha ask her why she didn't just stay –with him, as the case would be—but his own embarrassment, and his foot-in-mouth syndrome prevented him from even riding that train of thought.  

            "Never mind. Uh… I guess so… you don't **look **suspicious. There's no guest room, but… I suppose the living room would be okay…" Kagome started walking back to the house, and nearly tripped over Buyo. She smiled at the cat and picked him up, completely forgetting her anger towards the feline from earlier. 

            Inuyasha followed her with some silence. So far, so good, but she showed no signs of recognizing him. 

            * I have to find out what happened… she **has** to remember me! She **has** to! *

            Only minutes later, Kagome had Inuyasha nicely settled on the couch in the living room. 

            "It's… uh, a bit cold… but…" 

            "It's fine." He smiled. Kagome couldn't help but gulp, and she was glad for the darkness to cover her blush. She pulled Buyo up to her face and muttered something about having a nice sleep, and then she skittered upstairs. 

            Inuyasha settled on the couch—it was far better than a branch, at any rate. He placed his hands behind his head and drifted off into a sleep, where he had dreams of Kagome being the one by his side, back in the Sengoku Jidai. 

  
************************************************************************************************************

            The next morning, Kagome was up like a shot—she wanted to be up before her mother, grandfather, and brother, so they would not question her as to why a strange young man was sleeping on their couch. 

            But when Kagome got downstairs, there was no one on the couch. The blanket was in a heap on the floor, as if whoever he was had gotten up and left in a hurry. 

            "He-Hello…?" Maybe he'd gone to the bathroom or something. But there was no one at all downstairs. Everything in the household was intact, so he hadn't been a robber… 

            * Geez. Maybe it was a… * Kagome's eyes settled on a folded piece of white paper sticking out from one of the cushions. 

            "Dream…?" Kagome muttered the last part of her thought aloud, as she sat down to read the note. Indeed, it was from her mysterious "friend" and was addressed to her. The handwriting wasn't all that great—and some of the kanji looked downright ancient—but it was enough to read by. 

            [ Kagome Higurashi –

            Thank you for letting me stay last night. I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly, but there are only so many hours of light on a day, so I was forced to leave at dawn. But you have my utmost thanks. I hope I have the pleasure of meeting you again. ] 

            "Ke… he didn't even sign his name!" Kagome sighed. But she smiled as she read the letter's last line again. She giggled girlishly and then went back up to her room. 

            * I hope we meet again, soon too, stranger. * 

  
************************************************************************************************************

 I know, I know, not another non-cliffhanger. =P Oh well. Maybe next part—

Part 5- Third Soul: Inuyasha 

"… It's you!" Kagome exclaimed, taking a step back. But she wasn't frightened. Startled was the more appropriate word for it, because it had been almost a month… 

"Yeah…" Inuyasha looked around, as if expecting to see someone else—to indicate his presence wasn't welcome. At this time of night, he was sure no one was awake and about… besides Kagome. He didn't even pause to think why she was out there… that maybe she was expecting him? 

She'd been so happy before, and this time, he wasn't totally sure if he should go back and take that away from her… 

* Every time I look into Kikyou's eyes, I see Kagome… Kikyou isn't **supposed** to be alive… is she? * 

"Well… come on in… stranger." Kagome smiled at him, and Inuyasha looked back. The Bone-Eater's well—where his real past, present, and future lay… where Kikyou was waiting for him, a smile on her face. She no longer had any intent to kill him… didn't even remember what Naraku had done so many years ago that had resulted in her death, and his fifty-year sleep on a tree. 

But then… there was Kagome. He'd put her life in danger more times than he could care to remember… and she made him feel strange… like it wasn't **bad** to be a hanyou. The choice was his… because now, Kagome and Kikyou were most definitely two different people… 

Inuyasha swallowed slightly, mustering up what courage he couldn't find in his human form—and followed Kagome inside.                   

Stay tuned for more! 

**_Azurite_**


	5. The Third Soul: Inuyasha

Four Souls  
Part 5- Third Soul: Inuyasha

An Inuyasha Fanfiction  
By Azurite  
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com   
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon   
PG  
  


**_Legend_**  
_Remembered  
_"Spoken"  
* Thought *  
**Emphasis  
** Sound effect 

[ Letter ] 

**_Author's Notes:_**Gwah! This fic is coming out faster than any of the others I've ever written! But you are forewarned, I'm trying to work on my cliffhangers. I also have a tendency to post whatever pops into my head (the whole bubble bath analogy) so if I post something ridiculous, please don't flame me! ;_; Also, thank you to all the nice people who reviewed… even if they were confused at first. That's the point! ^^ Wait till you read this part now… maybe things will get a bit cleared up. Oh, and "sort of similar" to this is my other recently-posted fic "Stream of Time." If this bores you, read that! I'm not a completely bad writer… honest! 

**_RECAP OF PAST EVENTS:_****__**

Kagome chattered as well—she was cold. All she wanted to do right now was find Buyo, and climb back into her soft, warm bed. Sure, she had school tomorrow morning, but sleep was the most wonderful thing in the world, and Kagome wouldn't miss it, if she had the choice. But at the moment, she didn't have a choice…

            She crept close to the bushes where she'd seen the rustle, and dared to call out, just a bit louder…

            "Buyo? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" 

            Kagome kept her eyes focused on the bush, and then jumped back with a silent gasp when two very **non-feline** eyes stared back at her. 

&&

* This better work… * Inuyasha grumbled to himself for the umpteenth time. Perhaps if Kagome **didn't** recognize him, then it was for the better that he was in his human form. Besides, what harm was it to just… check on her? Right…?

* A sword? What is he, some kind of martial artist? * 

            Inuyasha knew what she was looking at, and unsheathed the ancient sword, handling it just so Kagome could hold it. 

            "Eh…?" She stared at the rusted blade simply **plopped** into her hands, and then back up at Inuyasha. Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame her… as if this were all… **familiar** somehow. The blade in her hands wasn't just some rusted old blade from some ancient dojo… 

            ZZN … ZZN … ZZN 

            * What… is this thing? It… feels as though it's… it has a pulse!? * 

            Kagome handed the blade quickly back to Inuyasha, and before she could ask him about that odd vibe she'd just gotten from the sword, he smiled at her. 

            "Listen… would it be okay if I stayed the night? I uh… I'm not really familiar with this area, and I heard that the Sunset Shrine was…" 

            "Where did you **hear** all this from?" Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes, hands on her hips. Then she answered her own question with an exasperated sigh—"Probably my idiotic friends from school. It's a wonder they even hang around me anymore, with all the silly things Hojo keeps embarrassing me with, or those excuses Grandpa made when I…" 

            Inuyasha stared at her, wondering what she was going to say. He knew very well that Kagome's foolish grandfather had to make excuses for her absences from that… 'school' place. Kagome often complained about them, saying how it was impossible, and only made her life in her own world more difficult. 

            Moments like those made Inuyasha ask her why she didn't just stay –with him, as the case would be—but his own embarrassment, and his foot-in-mouth syndrome prevented him from even riding that train of thought.  

            "Never mind. Uh… I guess so… you don't **look **suspicious. There's no guest room, but… I suppose the living room would be okay…" Kagome started walking back to the house, and nearly tripped over Buyo. She smiled at the cat and picked him up, completely forgetting her anger towards the feline from earlier. 

            Inuyasha followed her with some silence. So far, so good, but she showed no signs of recognizing him. 

            * I have to find out what happened… she **has** to remember me! She **has** to! *

&&

[ Kagome Higurashi –

            Thank you for letting me stay last night. I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly, but there are only so many hours of light on a day, so I was forced to leave at dawn. But you have my utmost thanks. I hope I have the pleasure of meeting you again. ] 

            "Ke… he didn't even sign his name!" Kagome sighed. But she smiled as she read the letter's last line again. She giggled girlishly and then went back up to her room. 

            * I hope we meet again, soon too, stranger. *

*************************************************************************************************************

            When Inuyasha returned to the Sengoku Jidai upon the dawn of the next day, a strange feeling had welled up inside him—one of comfort, and calm. It was long missed, and unfamiliar at to the hanyou at first. Yet the reactions of the others were the farthest thing on his mind when he arrived back in the village—so when he was barreled into by a joyous Kikyou, he was more than surprised. 

            * I forgot… about Kikyou! * Inuyasha thought to himself, as the previous days' events ran through his head. Seeing Kagome run away, and then, when he finally thought he'd found her, finding **Kikyou**, of all people, instead—alive and well. No longer had she a body of Earth and Stone, but a real, flesh and blood body… 

            She had no need for collecting souls of those dying or dead anymore… or anything else, for that matter. Her story, as she'd related it to Kaede, was almost exactly like Kagome's… except she had always been Kikyou, had never traveled through time, and the only reason why she wasn't wrinkled and old was because she'd cast a spell on herself fifty years ago, so she could "awaken" with Inuyasha. But when she did, Kikyou explained, she was disoriented, and didn't remember everything when she shattered the jewel. That subconscious reaction made her from the Shikon no Miko into an ordinary girl—free to love Inuyasha once more. But they continued on their search for the Shikon shards, knowing that if they fell into the wrong hands—such as Naraku, who, as far as Kikyou was concerned, was a misguided idiot—the world would be in grave danger. 

            "Inuyasha?" Kikyou was waving her hands in front of the hanyou's face, and he finally snapped back to reality, and looked down at her. The last time they'd been this close… and she'd been warm, caring… and seemingly in love… 

            * No, no, no! Kagome-- * 

            "Uh, last night…" Inuyasha began, before "his miko" could interrogate him about it later, "I was investigating the rumor of a Shikon shard… it…" 

            "Oh! Where is it?" Kikyou asked, holding out her hands like a small child waiting to receive candy. 

            "…It was a fluke… no shard." Inuyasha mumbled. When he looked up again, his eyes did not meet with Kikyou's, but Miroku, who stood a ways behind the resurrected miko. He said nothing—only turned and walked away. 

            "Oh… that's so sad Inuyasha, but…" Kikyou went right on talking, as if there were no wrongs in her world—as if her soul was, and always had been hers, and never Kagome's—while Inuyasha stared at the retreating priest. 

            One thought escaped his mind-- * He knows. * 

*************************************************************************************************************

            Kagome, for her part, went on with her life as if the Sengoku Jidai episodes never happened. 

Ms. Higurashi had done all she could to find out what was "ailing" her daughter for real this time, to forget all about Inuyasha. But every time she dared to broach the subject, Kagome stared at her blankly, and laughed at her mother for believing in "fairy tales." 

            "Perhaps she was in some sort of grave danger back in the Sengoku Jidai," Ms. Higurashi mused one day to her father. The old man nodded slowly, stroking his beard. 

            "It is more than possible. The last time, Inuyasha sealed the well from his side, and Kagome went nuts trying to get back through—she thought he was dead." 

            "…I'd never seen her so frantic before. She really cares for him." Ms. Higurashi whispered thoughtfully. 

            "Which only worries me more. What could have happened to her that would have wiped her memory of him completely… and in such a manner that neither would even attempt to go back for the other?" 

            "…What's more, how do we get Kagome into that well?" 

*************************************************************************************************************

            The days passed at an almost interminable rate, and before Kagome knew it, one month had passed since she had last seen the mysterious, dark-haired stranger. Over the course of the month, she had dreamt about the handsome man, wondered all number of things about him, and giggled her secrets to her friends. 

            The very idea of having a "tall, dark, and handsome" stranger visiting her was thrilling –and whoever he was **had** said he would "have the pleasure of meeting her again," so Kagome kept a shred of hope in her heart. Hojo's advances, once ridiculous, became semi-serious since Kagome was no longer "sick"… but Kagome never remembered being sick, so none of her friends ever mentioned it. 

            Between themselves, they thought Kagome **had** been sick, but to the head—and she had some kind of amnesia. 

            Since Kagome was so infatuated with the idea of meeting her handsome stranger again, Hojo's advances were aptly ignored—but Kagome didn't know that Hojo had a "thing" for her, so she kept right on waxing eloquent about her stranger. About how they had met under the new moon, how he seemed to know all about her, and… the feelings he made rush through her veins…

            Of course, none of her friends knew who in the world Kagome was talking about—it sure couldn't have been that "guy" she had spent so much time with earlier in the year—who was supposedly very crude, stubborn, and primitive. 

            The one chance meeting Kagome had had with this "mystery man" was exciting her friends, who urged Kagome to tell them about the guy more when she saw him next. Kagome never had a doubt that she would see him again… without knowing that the very day she made the promise, she would. 

            Night had just fallen at the Sunset Shrine, and Kagome was sitting on the steps of the compound, head in her hands, elbows on her knees as she daydreamed about "Kageme," her mysterious man. "Kageme," as it was, meant "Shadow Eyes," which reminded Kagome of their first fateful meeting—when she'd stared at him through the bushes. A million thoughts had wormed their way into her mind then—none of which had anything to do with a handsome stranger who knew all about her. 

            Kagome heard a noise—coming from the Bone-Eater's well, and stood, a curious and defensive expression becoming her face. 

            When she saw the form that emerged from the shadows, she gasped. 

            "… It's you!" Kagome exclaimed, taking a step back. But she wasn't frightened. Startled was the more appropriate word for it, because it had been almost a month… 

"Yeah…" Inuyasha looked around, as if expecting to see someone else—to indicate his presence wasn't welcome. At this time of night, he was sure no one was awake and about… besides Kagome. He didn't even pause to think why she was out there… that maybe she was expecting him? 

She'd been so happy before, and this time, he wasn't totally sure if he should go back and take that away from her… 

* Every time I look into Kikyou's eyes, I see Kagome… Kikyou isn't **supposed** to be alive… is she? * 

"Well… come on in… stranger." Kagome smiled at him, and Inuyasha looked back. The Bone-Eater's well—where his real past, present, and future lay… where Kikyou was waiting for him, a smile on her face. She no longer had any intent to kill him… didn't even remember what Naraku had done so many years ago that had resulted in her death, and his fifty-year sleep on a tree. 

But then… there was Kagome. He'd put her life in danger more times than he could care to remember… and she made him feel strange… like it wasn't **bad** to be a hanyou. The choice was his… because now, Kagome and Kikyou were most definitely two different people… 

Inuyasha swallowed slightly, mustering up what courage he couldn't find in his human form—and followed Kagome inside.

            "Can I get you something—tea, cup of noodles?" 

            Inuyasha brightened at the memory of the deliciously salty noodles Kagome used to bring from her time, and nodded vigorously. Kagome chuckled, and the hanyou-turned-human had the decency to blush. She stepped into the kitchen to prepare her friend a meal, and talked to him from there. 

            "So stranger, what have you been doing these past twenty-eight days?" 

            "You've been counting?" Inuyasha grinned as he stepped into the kitchen, leaning casually on the doorframe. Kagome smiled at him, and Inuyasha felt his heart beat double-time. This… this kind of thing didn't happen around Kikyou. Maybe once… but now…

            * Why should Kagome be the one to stir these feelings in me… again? * 

            He had no answer to that, but settled for staring at the weird objects in her kitchen. He wanted to ask Kagome about some of them—like the weird black box with numbers on it, settled into the corner, for example—but he knew if he did, he'd look like a fool. Besides, if they somehow kept off the whole 'time-difference' subject, then she shouldn't be in any danger. 

            * Who's to say she won't be attacked now? * Inuyasha thought suddenly, remembering the Noh mask woman and Mayu the ghost. 

            * She doesn't have the Shi— * Inuyasha's thoughts ended abruptly. Where **was** the Shikon no Tama? Of all things, that had to have been the foremost on his mind, yet… ever since Kagome disappeared and Kikyou suddenly "came back to life," he hadn't thought about it much. 

            A few shards were being held in the village, yes, but the jewel half that he and Kagome had taken so long to assemble… where was that? 

            His unspoken question was answered when Kagome bent down to poor the hot, boiling water into two Styrofoam cups. A slender necklace slipped out from underneath the folds of her shirt—and attached to the thin chain was a half-there bead, about the size of a toy ball. 

            His eyes were fixated on the object so, wondering how in the world **it** could have crossed times without use of the well, and how it wasn't attached to the re-born Kikyou… 

            * It's possible, isn't it? Whatever happened back then… caused Kikyou's soul to return to her, but with Kagome's memories of the time. So when her body disappeared, so did the jewel! *

            Kagome was blushing, noting how her stranger was staring pointedly at her chest. She followed his gaze until she realized it was not her breasts he was staring at so intently, but her pendant!

            She set the two steaming cups down, and sat down at the kitchen table. 

            "You like this pendant?" She asked, picking it up. Inuyasha's attention snapped back up to her, and he stared, a sheepish expression on his face. 

            * He's awfully cute when he blushes… * Kagome thought, smiling secretly to herself. Maybe with some luck, she could find out his name tonight!

            "Y-Yeah, it's pretty." 

            "Not many people would say that about a half-broken bead, but… it's all I have left of him…" 

Inuyasha, had his dog ears been perched atop his head, would have immediately flicked forward in anticipation. 

            Rather, he leaned forward and whispered in a conspiring tone, "He?" 

            "Oh… well, I don't remember who 'he' exactly is… just someone from my past, I guess. I think mother knows something more about him, but I don't know enough to ask her, so… he's just a faded dream, I guess." 

            * Could it be… she… she remembers my hanyou half? * Inuyasha thought, with almost too much hope. If she did, then maybe…!

            * No! If she got involved in the mess in the past again, then she'd be in danger… especially with Kikyou alive again, with… with **her** soul! * 

            It was the first time Inuyasha allowed himself to admit that Kagome's soul was really hers, and not Kikyou's. The Kikyou he remembered—from fifty years ago, and from previous battles, after her 'reincarnation' by Urasue, didn't act like the one who was back in the Sengoku Jidai right now. She had stolen Kagome's memories as well, and so had become 'part' of Kagome. 

            But part of the woman wasn't enough, Inuyasha realized. In the past month, the woman he had spent time with as a hanyou—Kikyou—wasn't the woman constantly on his mind. When they fought demons or soldiers for Shikon fragments, she didn't call his name, asking for help. She didn't act afraid—only confident and playful. It was too much of a change from the woman—the women—he'd fallen in love with. This shadow of Kikyou **wasn't** Kikyou—he knew that much. It sure as hell wasn't Kagome either…

            "He-Hello?" Kagome waved her hand in front of the stranger's face. He was some deep thinker, alright, just spacing out like that. 

            Again, his attention broke, and he sat upright. 

            "Your soup is getting cold," Kagome explained with a smile. 

            "Uh… thanks." Inuyasha picked up the cup and drank the hot liquid. 

            "Kaa—" Inuyasha breathed out quickly, having been burned by the intensity of the soup. 

Kagome let out a slight giggle as she slurped her own soup with purposeful slowness. 

            "Don't try to drink it so fast. I don't **think** you're in any kind of a rush. Besides, you're only human." 

            Their gazes locked as Inuyasha tried to convey some semblance of the truth in his now-violet eyes. 

            * If only you knew… *

            Uncomfortable with his intense stare, Kagome quickly went back to drinking her soup. Once finished, she occupied herself with washing up near the sink, her back to Inuyasha. 

            "So stranger, you never told me your name." She turned around, shutting the water off. She met Inuyasha's curious expression with a smile. 

            "You do **have** a name, don't you?" 

            "Uh, h-hai…" 

            "Not sure?" Kagome chuckled. Inuyasha blushed once more, and cursed his idiotic human body for such foolish –and embarrassing- reactions to the slightest things. 

            "It's Inuyasha." 

            "Huh?" Kagome looked up. His voice had suddenly grown quiet and serious; she hadn't been expecting him to say it just **like that**. 

            "My name. It's Inuyasha." 

            The kitchen was silent for a while, and then Kagome sank to her knees on the floor in a courteous bow. 

            "It's very nice to meet you… Inuyasha." 

*************************************************************************************************************

;_; Again with the lack of cliffhangers! Okay, I promise in the next few chapters that we will see some very interesting stuff!

So, coming up in Chapter Six of "Four Souls:"

            "Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome dashed after the dark-haired boy as he ran into the bushes. When she finally caught up with him, he was standing stock-still, in front of the Bone-Eater's well. 

            * What's going on here, Inuyasha? I thought I could trust you, and now… Why do you run from me? * 

            "Kagome, please. Just turn around, and go to sleep. I have to go now." 

            "Every month, you're gone before dawn! When am I going to see you in the light, Inuyasha? Why do you keep running –hiding- something from me!?" Kagome's eyes were suddenly watering, and she didn't bother to brush them away.     

            That strange, exhilarated feeling that had welled up inside of her since their first meeting was getting stronger by the moment. 

            When Inuyasha turned to face her, guilt forced itself upon him, reminding him that again, he was taking away her only chance at happiness—a truly normal life. Yet he couldn't stay away from her… he couldn't protect her… 

            "Close your eyes." He finally said, staring at her intensely. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a stream of sunlight making its way over the horizon. Within moments, he'd be back to his hanyou self—and he knew just how Kagome would react. She'd be afraid –no, terrified. She'd lose whatever small trust she had in him, and run away, never to want to see him again. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let her get involved again—couldn't let her get hurt. 

            Kagome looked at him, disbelieving, but did as she was told. 

            * She trusts me… that much. * Inuyasha realized. Watching her just stand there, her eyes closed, made him want to hold her so tightly to him that he would never let go. 

            His heart was ready to say "To hell with being a hanyou, the damned Shikon no Tama, or any of that, I lo—"

            But he couldn't. She'd be **in danger**. 

            He too, closed his eyes, and jumped into the Bone-Eater's well, while he still had time. Before he even hit bottom and landed in his own time, he was back to being his hanyou self, youkai blood running through his veins like fire. 

            He climbed out of the well in his time with ease, daring himself not to look back at it, and tempt himself. He would only scare her—hurt her—even more. As he walked away, he didn't notice the shred of his kimono missing from his left sleeve. 

            When Kagome opened her eyes, Inuyasha was gone—she'd felt no breeze pass by either side of her body to indicate running down the compound steps. A twenty foot wall was behind the well, and unless Inuyasha was like those weirdoes from Nerima, he couldn't have…

            * Nani… his kimono sleeve? * Kagome picked up a scrap of red fabric, jaggedly ripped, from a splintered part of the well. 

            She looked down into the inky depths of the dry well, and then at the fabric. 

            "Inuyasha," She murmured aloud, taking one last glance at the rising sun, heedless of school later that day, "I'm coming for you." And without a second thought, she jumped into the well. 

*************************************************************************************************************

Oooh-ooh-oh!

See you later, 

**_Azurite_**


End file.
